In 2017 the Eagles hosted the Miami Dolphins for a set of joint practices at the NovaCare Complex.
The Eagles, coming off of a 7-9 season in 2016 and without many expectations for 2017, dominated the two days. One player who was especially impressive was Carson Wentz, who totaled 45/60 with six touchdowns and no interceptions in team drills over the two days. He was accurate, he made great throws, he got rid of it quickly and he didn’t turn the ball over.
The strong showing ended up being a sign of things to come. Wentz, who was having a shaky start to camp, took off from there, put 2016 behind him and ended up having -- incase you already forgot -- a pretty special 2017 season.
As this current group of Eagles prepare for their Thursday night preseason game against the New England Patriots, it is hard not to feel that Jalen Hurts might have just had the same kind of breakout performance over the last two days as Wentz did in 2017.
Hurts turned in his best two days of training camp against the New England Patriots, going 27/39 with five touchdowns and two interceptions. The interceptions, both of which were the result of passes bouncing off of receiver’s hands, were not an indication of how Hurts played.
After a shaky start to camp Hurts looked the part of the team’s starting quarterback. With veteran Cam Newton and first-round pick Mac Jones on the other sideline, Hurts was the best quarterback in camp on either team. He moved the ball up-and-down the field against the Patriots, including an impressive two-minute drive at the end of one practice that would have ended in a touchdown if not for a questionable call by the refs on a Jalen Reagor catch in the end zone.
A sign of just how much better Hurts was vs. the Patriots than he has been throughout camp was in the red zone.
Hurts has been struggling in the red zone throughout camp, failing to consistently get his offense in the end zone despite being usually only around 10-yards out. He had just 12 touchdown passes in the first 12 training camp practices, a very low number. That changed against the Patriots as Hurts threw four touchdowns in the red zone on Tuesday, including three to tight end Dallas Goedert. He looked decisive on where he wanted to go with the ball and delivered accurate passes quickly, picking apart the Patriots’ defense and seeming to take a big step in the right direction.
Hurts looking so good from the pocket over the last two days had to be especially encouraging for the Eagles. There has never been any question about Hurts’ intangibles, football IQ or his ability to make plays with his legs. The majority of the skepticism about Hurts has come from concern with his ability to pass from the pocket. That was no an issue at all against the Patriots, however, as Hurts was accurate on all three levels of the field. He hit his running backs in stride, he got the ball out quickly to the sidelines on intermediate throws and connected on a 50-plus yard touchdown to Jalen Reagor.
Hurts throwing the ball well continued a trend of last Thursday night of Hurts looking much better against defenses that aren’t the Eagles’ defense. Hurts looked good against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense in the preseason opener and then looked very good against the Patriots starting defense in the joint practices. Considering the Eagles’ defense dominated the Patriots’ offense over the last two days, it is fair to start to wonder if Hurts’ struggles early in camp were the result of who he was playing against as opposed to a lack of talent.
Whether Hurts can use a successful two days of work as a launching off point for this season remains to be seen. Hurts still has two days of joint practices against the New York Jets next week to get through, as well as two more preseason games. Hurts will enter the 2021 season with just four games of starting experience on his resume. Expecting him to come out and have a season like Wentz did in 2017 probably isn’t realistic or fair.
If Hurts does have a breakout 2021 season, however, there is no doubt that these last two practices against the Patriots was the first real sign of big things to come.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!